Trees never stop providing us with oxygen, so how can we stop planting more trees?
When 7-year-old Prasiddhi Singh, asks us this question, it sort of hangs in the air. The youngster, who has already planted over 13,000 trees, claims to have created 12 entire fruit forests in Tamil Nadu and is now on a mission to plant one lakh trees in the next two years. Though these words ought to come up in her school books much, much later on, she tells us that "biodiversity is relentlessly invaded every day and the environmental balance of life cycles broken by human beings" thus leading to the impending environmental crisis all across the globe.
The little eco-warrior's stint with planting saplings began after witnessing the massive loss of trees in the 2016 cyclone Vardah that left a trail of destruction in the state. Couple that with how she has been close to nature since her childhood and it was just meant to happen, "I have been inspired by nature's bounty, how creatures collaborate with trees, flowers such as honeybees collecting nectar from plants etc. I have always been fascinated by these phenomena and felt connected to nature," says Prasiddhi.
A student at the Mahindra World School near Chennai, she has also inspired her classmates and the school principal to take part in her endeavours to make the world a better place. "At first, my friends were not too keen on helping me out but eventually they supported. Now, they also help me plant trees, make pencils out of eco-friendly materials like paper and collect funds to plant trees after selling those," she adds. Prasiddhi has already planted 100 fruit trees in her schoolyard, following which a nursery was set up in her name, inside the premises. "I want every other classmate of mine to be a part of this initiative and so I am really thankful to our principal," she says. While every other child at her age eagerly waits for a gift on their birthdays, Prasiddhi gives to the environment by planting a sapling every year. She calls them green birthdays.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she used to go out every Saturday to plant trees. However, things have become quite difficult since then for her. Doing whatever she could in the meantime, Prasiddhi began conducting online sessions with children her age to create awareness about the positive results of planting trees. She did all of this to raise funds and use for her plantation drives eventually. "I like to focus on what is in front of me, what I need to do now. I like to go with the flow and see what the future holds for me," adds Prasiddhi, who is also the Youngest Fruit Forest Creator in India according to the India Book of Records.
Adding that the young environmentalist also likes to paint, do crafts, sing and dance during her leisure time, her father, Praveen Singh tells us, "She is driving us and everyone around, we are motivated by her. She is also growing vegetables in our nursery where she guides the gardeners. I believe that if you set a goal and start something, there are people who will always help. We have seen that with our daughter too. She has received a lot of recognition and support from several communities, organisations and NGOs."
